Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
By: Elizabeth Miki Brina
4.21
Format: 304 pages, Hardcover
A “hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity” (NPR) and a young woman's journey to unde…
Want to Read $ 11.99"My mother and I speak different languages. Her native language is Japanese. My native language is English. This might seem like a mundane fact about us. It's not. It dictates everything. Because even though mu mother understands and speaks English at a highly functional level, there are places inside me she can't reach, nuances of thought and emotion I can't express in words that make sense to her."-Elizabeth Miki Brina, Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
"My mother and I speak different languages. Her native language is Japanese. My native language is English. This might seem like a mundane fact about us. It’s not. It dictates everything. Because even though my mother understands and speaks English at a highly functional level, there are places inside me she can’t reach, nuances of thought and emotion I can’t express in words that make sense to her."-Elizabeth Miki Brina, Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
If you liked the biography plot in Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir by Elizabeth Miki Brina , here is a list of 12 books like this:
1. The Heavy: A Mother, a Daughter, a Diet—a Memoir
By: Dara-Lynn Weiss
3.67
Format: 364 pages, Hardcover
For readers of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother andBringing Up Bebe,a mother's unflinching memoir ab… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in Dara-Lynn Weiss's The Heavy: A Mother, a Daughter, a Diet—a Memoir book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- nonfiction
- biography
- memoir
- audiobook
2. The Girl with the White Flag: A Spellbinding Account of Love and Courage in Wartime Okinawa
By: Tomiko Higa , Dorothy Britton
3.76
Format: 336 pages, Paperback
New York Newsdaycalled this memoir of a warhood childhood in Japan "one of the saddest and yet most… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in Tomiko Higa's The Girl with the White Flag: A Spellbinding Account of Love and Courage in Wartime Okinawa book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
3. Memory Piece
By: Lisa Ko
3.22
Format: 304 pages, Hardcover
In the early 1980s, Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are three teenagers drawn together by th… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Lisa Ko's Memory Piece book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- audiobook
"The physicality of making things, the performance, temporarily displaced how stuck she felt, in this particular body, family, town, time."-Lisa Ko, Memory Piece
4. Stay True
By: Hua Hsu
4.03
Format: 208 pages, Hardcover
From the New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, a gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for se… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Hua Hsu's Stay True book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
"My parents are great, I said. Unbelievably non-stereotypical."-Hua Hsu, Stay True
"The first generation thinks about survival; the ones that follow tell the stories."-Hua Hsu, Stay True
"You were describing people we had not yet met, maybe people we ourselves would become."-Hua Hsu, Stay True
"It was a sign of personal growth, I thought to myself, that I could be friends with someone who liked Pearl Jam this much."-Hua Hsu, Stay True
5. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
By: Cathy Park Hong
4.21
Format: 209 pages, Hardcover
Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose the trut… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Cathy Park Hong's Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
"When I hear the phrase “Asians are next in line to be white,"-Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
"The avant-garde genealogy could be tracked through stories of bad-boy white artists who “got away with it,"-Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
"the curse of anyone nonwhite is that you are so busy arguing what you're not that you never arrive at what you are."-Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
"Hollywood is still so racist against Asians that when there’s a rare Asian extra in a film, I tense up for the chinky joke and relax when there isn’t one."-Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
6. Tastes Like War
By: Grace M. Cho
3.92
Format: 289 pages, Paperback
Grace M. Cho grew up as the daughter of a white American merchant marine and the Korean bar hostess… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Grace M. Cho's Tastes Like War book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- history
- biography
- memoir
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- audiobook
7. Talk to My Back
By: Yamada Murasaki
4.06
Format: 384 pages, Paperback
An unearthed masterwork from one of the "three daughters of Garo," shimmering with realism and vuln… read more
Want to Read $ 16.99Similar categories in Yamada Murasaki's Talk to My Back book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- japan
"Men live in a dream. They always want to be treated like children. When they're strong, we indulge them in this fantasy simply because they're men. Women, on the other hand, have reality shoved into …"-Yamada Murasaki, Talk to My Back
8. The Last Story of Mina Lee
By: Nancy Jooyoun Kim
3.53
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
Margot Lee's mother, Mina, isn't returning her calls. It's a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot,… read more
Want to Read $ 13.49Similar categories in Nancy Jooyoun Kim's The Last Story of Mina Lee book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- asian literature
- audiobook
"Her mother had once screamed, “How am I going to pay for this? Why don’t you take better care of yourself?"-Nancy Jooyoun Kim, The Last Story of Mina Lee
"Beauty is a construct, but theory is not at the reality we live, she thought. Theory didn't live in the bones. Theory didn't erase the years of self-scrutiny in a mirror and not seeing anyone at all,…"-Nancy Jooyoun Kim, The Last Story of Mina Lee
"But if she allowed that story to continue to be told, over and over again - that her mother was a nobody, anonymous, an immigrant who couldn't speak the language, another immigrant who worked a job t…"-Nancy Jooyoun Kim, The Last Story of Mina Lee
"She wondered how many women had been trapped - in terrible marriages, terrible jobs, unbearable circumstances - simply because the world hadn't been designed to allow them to thrive on their own. The…"-Nancy Jooyoun Kim, The Last Story of Mina Lee
9. The Manicurist's Daughter
By: Susan Lieu
3.96
Format: 320 pages, Hardcover
An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who … read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Susan Lieu's The Manicurist's Daughter book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- family
- asian literature
- audiobook
10. Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America
By: Julia Lee
4.34
Format: 248 pages, Hardcover
Julia Lee is angry. And she has questions. What does it mean to be Asian in America? What does it … read more
Want to Read $ 11.99Similar categories in Julia Lee's Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- history
- biography
- memoir
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
11. The Bohemians
By: Jasmin Darznik
4.04
Format: 304 pages, Hardcover
A dazzling novel of one of America's most celebrated photographers, Dorothea Lange, exploring the w… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Jasmin Darznik's The Bohemians book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- audiobook
"Live every day as if you might be struck blind--that was the rule I made for myself now. In those first few days after the quarantine was lifted, we went around marveling at the smallest things, as i…"-Jasmin Darznik, The Bohemians
12. House of Sticks
By: Ly Tran
4.38
Format: 368 pages, Hardcover
New York City Book Awards Hornblower Award Winner One of Vogue and NPR’s Best Books of the Year T… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Ly Tran's House of Sticks book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- asia
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
13. The Loneliest Americans
By: Jay Caspian Kang
3.71
Format: 272 pages, Hardcover
A riveting blend of family history and original reportage by a conversation-starting writer for The… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Jay Caspian Kang's The Loneliest Americans book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- history
- biography
- memoir
- asia
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
"These cultural generalizations, perhaps correctly, reduce the history of immigration to a binary. When immigrants come into this country, whether they join the labor force, like the Irish, Mexicans, …"-Jay Caspian Kang, The Loneliest Americans
14. Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.: A Memoir
By: Jenny Heijun Wills
4.07
Format: 256 pages, Hardcover
A beautiful and haunting memoir of kinship and culture rediscovered. Jenny Heijun Wills was born… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Jenny Heijun Wills's Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.: A Memoir book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- asia
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
15. The Magical Language of Others
By: E.J. Koh
3.87
Format: 209 pages, Hardcover
The Magical Language of Others is a powerful and aching love story in letters, from mother to daugh… read more
Want to Read $ 11.99Similar categories in E.J. Koh's The Magical Language of Others book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- asia
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- asian literature
- audiobook
16. Ma and Me
By: Putsata Reang
4.43
Format: 400 pages, Hardcover
The memoir of a refugee caught between her identity as a gay woman and the love and life debt she o… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Putsata Reang's Ma and Me book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- biography
- memoir
- asia
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- audiobook
17. Which Side Are You On
By: Ryan Lee Wong
3.60
Format: 175 pages, Hardcover
How can we live with integrity and pleasure in this world of police brutality and racism? An Asian … read more
Want to Read $ 10.99Similar categories in Ryan Lee Wong's Which Side Are You On book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- family
- audiobook
18. Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
By: Elizabeth Miki Brina
4.21
Format: 304 pages, Hardcover
A “hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity” (NPR) and a young woman's journey to unde… read more
Want to Read $ 11.99Similar categories in Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- history
- biography
- memoir
- asia
- biography memoir
- nonfiction
- family
- japan
- asian literature
- audiobook
"My mother and I speak different languages. Her native language is Japanese. My native language is English. This might seem like a mundane fact about us. It’s not. It dictates everything. Because even…"-Elizabeth Miki Brina, Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
"My mother and I speak different languages. Her native language is Japanese. My native language is English. This might seem like a mundane fact about us. It's not. It dictates everything. Because even…"-Elizabeth Miki Brina, Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
19. Beijing Sprawl
By: Zechen Xu
3.86
Format: 220 pages, Paperback
Muyu, a seventeen-year-old from a small village, came to Beijing for his piece of the money, love,… read more
Want to Read $ 8.49Similar categories in Zechen Xu's Beijing Sprawl book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- asia
20. Days of Distraction
By: Alexandra Chang
3.58
Format: 312 pages, Hardcover
A wry, tender portrait of a young woman — finally free to decide her own path, but unsure if she kn… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Alexandra Chang's Days of Distraction book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- asian literature
- audiobook
"What greater loneliness and longing is there than living with someone you once knew so well, and who is now hardly around?"-Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction
"It is the nature of relationships that they are impossible to fully understand from the outside. Their inner workings both from memories and habits and histories made out of exterior world and from t…"-Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction
"❝It is the nature of relationships that they are impossible to fully understand from the outside. Their inner workings both from memories and habits and histories made out of exterior world and from …"-Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction
"And from those brief moments I was living with a certainty that I was exactly where I should be, where everything is deeply quiet and deeply alive. I thought about the many aspects in this life that …"-Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction
21. Night In The American Village: Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa
By: Akemi Johnson
4.31
Format: 280 pages, Hardcover
"A lively encounter with identity and American military history in Okinawa. Night in the American V… read more
Want to Read $ 14.74Similar categories in Akemi Johnson's Night In The American Village: Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa book and Elizabeth Miki Brina's Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
- history
- asia
- nonfiction
- japan
- audiobook
